First up is Azure RemoteAPP! This is a new service that will deliver remote applications directly from Azure without requiring the full implementation of an RDS infrastructure (on premises or in Azure VMs.) Users will be able to use the Remote Desktop Client on their workstation to connect and run applications from Azure. This offering is currently in preview and there is no cost to try it while in preview. See more info on the Azure RemoteApp website. Do note that this will enable RemoteApp functionality, if you require full Desktop access the option of running RDS in Azure VMs is still viable! (See colleague Tim Tetrick’s post on this topic here: Offering RDS solutions on Microsoft Azure.)

Next up is Azure Site Recovery! This is formally known as Azure Hyper-V Recovery Manager. Also to be available in preview in June, this is will enable customers to replicate virtual machines from their primary site directly to Azure, instead of a second customer site. Stay tuned for more info when this is made available via the public preview.

Final one I will speak to today is that if you have an MSDN subscription, you can now spin up a Windows Client VM! You can now access VM images of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 via the VM gallery as shown below:

Note that the MSDN option is checked on lower left. While not supported for production, this allows one to develop and test applications in Windows client operating systems quickly and easily!